6.02.2008

One run down...

And a whole bunch more to go. But my first run of 18 weeks of training for my first marathon went well. I did 5 milers in a brand new pair of shoes.

I had a good 5 miles, especially in a completely new model of shoe. These New Balance 826s are not all that terribly different than my lightweight NB 902/903s, but are a neutral shoe, rather than mild stability. I'm not convinced I need the medial post in my shoes, so now's as good a time as any to give a different sort of shoe a try. I have several months to narrow-down my race shoe preference in the meantime. Until then I will continue to rotate my 2 pairs of 902s with my 903s and the new 826s. I figure I'll have a good idea what shoe I'll want to wear race-day by the time I need to replace one of the pairs. I'll likely end up selling my 2 unworn pair of 902s (purchased when the shoe was first discontinued and I wasn't yet sure I'd love the 903s as much) on eBay, since there are still quite a few people paying top-dollar for the 902 (and wide shoes are particularly tough to find).

My troublesome right knee is still a little "off." Not enough to slow me down much, but definitely enough that I am a bit more conscious of both knees. I'm already bored doing the quad/hip-strengthening exercises, but I do them to try to improve the knee situation (still clicking and popping some, still a bit stiff). I definitely want to get my decade-old Schwinn mountain bike back on the road...that's a much preferable means of making my quads stronger while we have such great weather. Plus I get the added benefit of a good aerobic workout...perfect cross-straining for a runner.

So DH is planning to replace my wobbly rear wheel and swap the knobby tires with slick ones, since my miles will all be done on paved roads. Now I just need to find a new saddle (one that doesn't make my girly-bits scream in pain and go numb a mile down the road) and dig out my chamois shorts, cleated shoes and gloves. I'm kind of nervous about messing with clipless pedals, again, though. It's been a while and I wasn't exactly graceful/skilled using them. I had at least one infamous fall when I first tried them that involved me at a complete stop and unable to disengage..."shit, shit, shit shit..." *fall-down-go-boom*

Ha, I like the color, too! I've been pretty lucky, since the shoes that work best for me are NB's flashiest models (my other two pair are bright cyan or coral with silver trim). I guess that's my consolation for ONLY being able to wear NB shoes. I've tried others and have had no luck with fit. Asics are too narrow through the toes and too wide through the heels and the Sauconys I had ate my achilles. Well-fitting wides are a PITA to find.

Thanks for your comment on my blog. I'm glad your 18-miler went well. I like your idea of shoe rotation. I'm debating whether mine contributed to my problematic run yesterday. We'll see how the next one goes.

Oh, my run wasn't an 18...yet. I have a few (8) weeks to go before I hit that distance. Longest I've done in a single run to date is 16 before a recent 25k. Today's run was just 5.

I have a couple of friends who swear by rotating at least 2 different models of shoes to help vary the stresses to their legs. Since I'm a flatlander who runs entirely on flat asphalt I get very little variety in terrain to work my muscles differently, so I feel like varying my shoes can't hurt.

You DID leave a comment!...that's weird, I never received the notification e-mail from Blogger. I think I may just go ahead and get rid of moderation for my blog, since I rarely get spam posts--and I can always delete them when I do.

As far as rotating the shoes, it is supposed to help with wear, as some say. I also like having a dry pair if I happen to run through a deluge the prior day.

I used to rotate between Asics-Mizuno-Saucony. Then just Mizuno and Asics. Now I am exclusive Asics... at least for now. I wanted to by Mizunos this last go around but with the changes they did they just didn't fit my feet right.

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